Former Patriot Cassius Marsh slams the team

Tuesday

Cassius Marsh said there was nothing fun about his time with the Patriots last season.

The Patriot Way isn’t for everyone. The same can be said for Bill Belichick‘s style of coaching. Some love it while others want no part of it.

Former Patriots defensive end Cassius Marsh says he hated it.

Now in San Francisco, Marsh ripped the Patriots' use of him and his time in New England. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Marsh talked about his short, disappointing experience in New England last season and claimed players aren’t enjoying their time in Foxboro.

“They don’t have fun there. There’s nothing fun about it. There’s nothing happy about it. I didn’t enjoy any of my time there, you know what I’m saying?" Marsh said. "It made me for the first time in my life think about not playing football because I hated it that much.”

Acquired before the NFL’s cut-down day, Marsh looked out of place in the Patriots’ defensive scheme. With Dante Hightower out for the season, Marsh was asked to play the left defensive end role. In this position, players are asked to set the edge in the run game, rush the passer and occasionally drop back in coverage. Although the player lines up on the edge like a prototypical defensive end, his responsibilities are comparable to an outside linebacker.

The role is one that someone like Rob Ninkovich excelled at for years. In nine games, however, Marsh looked out of place, had trouble setting the edge, and made only one sack before being released. He was replaced by Eric Lee, who made 3.5 sacks in six games in the same role. Eventually James Harrison (1.5 sacks in one game) took over for the playoff run.

“They asked me to do a bunch of stuff that I had never done: covering running backs and receivers and basically almost never rushing the passer, which is what I did in playing defensive line,” Marsh said.

The performance was a disappointing one considering the Patriots give up a fifth- and seventh-round pick for the player. After being released, Marsh was signed by the 49ers where he made two sacks in six games.

From the West Coast, Marsh made it known last year that being traded from Seattle to New England was tough on him at first. However, people had little idea on how unhappy he really was.

“I confronted [Belichick] about all the things that were going on,” Marsh said. “I won’t get into detail, but it was B.S. things they were doing. I just wasn’t a fan. And so I, basically, without asking to get cut, I kind of asked to get cut. … I had confidence that I would have an opportunity elsewhere and I would take advantage of it.”

This offseason, the Patriot Way has been under attack from other players, as well. Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Lane Johnson has been very critical and said in February that "the Patriot Way is a fear-based organization” and that he didn’t think people enjoyed playing there.

Obviously, Belichick’s style isn’t for everyone. Marsh isn’t the first player to be unhappy or a bad scheme fit, but it is unusual for a former member of the Patriots to be so outspoken about his unhappiness in the system. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t players who don’t enjoy playing under Belichick.

Former NFL player and current ESPN analyst Louis Reddick played under Belichick in Cleveland. On Twitter, he noted how some players might not love the coaching style, but some players don’t mind because they see the results.

“Bill Belichick is not for everyone,” Reddick wrote. “I have lived it. BUT, if winning means everything to you, there is nobody in professional football better equipped to help you achieve that goal. End of story.”

Marquis Flowers, who like Marsh, was acquired late last summer, but unlike Marsh had a career-year under Belichick, was also asked about his former teammate’s comments on Twitter.

“I’m not gonna knock him! I felt that same way about my time in Cincinnati!” Flowers wrote. “But I will tell you on my end I’m having a BLAST! Most fun I’ve had and I love it here.”

— Mark Daniels writes for the Providence Journal of GateHouse Media.

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